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Rhetoric
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What is Rhetoric?

Rhetoric is the study of how language is used to persuade, inform, and influence audiences, and it sits at the center of communications, English, political science, and philosophy curricula. Its academic interest lies in the tension between language and reality, form and meaning, power and reason. Students engage with foundational questions about what makes an argument effective and how speech shapes public life. Core thinkers and frameworks that appear across coursework include Aristotle's definition of rhetoric, Plato's critique of false rhetoric as it relates to democracy, Foucault's contributions to rhetoric and ideology, and the competing positions of Bitzer and Vatz on how rhetorical situations are constructed.

Papers on this topic take several distinct approaches. Some are historically oriented, tracing classical and modern rhetorical theory to compare how ideas about persuasion have evolved. Others focus on close analysis of specific texts or speeches, such as Carmichael's Black Power speech or George Orwell's political writing, using rhetorical frameworks to examine how language and power operate together. Additional papers explore rhetoric within specific domains — religion, education, and political ideology — while others work through theoretical debates about the relationship between knowledge and rhetoric or the role of rhetorical education in shaping civic life.

A strong essay on rhetoric grounds its thesis in a clear claim about how a specific use of language achieves — or fails to achieve — a persuasive effect. Evidence drawn from the text, speech, or theoretical framework under analysis carries the most weight. The most common pitfall is treating rhetoric as merely a list of devices; effective essays instead connect those devices to broader questions of audience, power, and meaning.

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Paper Doctorate

Australia's carbon tax and business impact assessment

In a November 8th 2011 report in the Australian Times it is reported that as the final hurdle to carbon emission tax was cleared by the Federal Government of Australia, "Prime Minister Julia Gillard avoided saying the passage of the controversial impost would mark a turning point in Labor's fortunes." It is related that a new polled demonstrated "a modest uptick in its primary support". (Australian Times, 2011) The new tax is geared toward a reduction in carbon emissions in theory however; it is likely that the carbon tax is in reality more focused on government receipts in terms of its revenue. This issue will be examined through the lens of theorists Senge (2000) and the Dynamics of Systems, Jenkins (2008) and value and identities, and Beinhocker (2006) theories and global commerce.

Paper Doctorate

The rhetoric of incarceration as modern slavery

This paper discusses the rhetorical device of using the term "modern slavery" to refer to those who are in prison. Such a term is intentionally hyperbolic because it equates imprisonment with the forced labor of slavery. There are both positives and negatives associated with using this device which are further discussed in this document.

Paper Doctorate

Human cruelty and racial discrimination in Charles Chestnut's literary works

It is a vivid fact that the feelings of cruelty, discrimination and racial distribution are embedded well in to human nature since its very inception. This world depicts several cases where humans treat other humans like animals and ignore their right of living peacefully and according to their own will. This article highlights the work of several writers who have depicted the different ways in which humans have been treated brutally by other humans. Majority of the cases deal with racial discrimination and poverty based cruelty issues encountered by humans. The article presents an in depth analysis of the works of seven different writers and how their works represent the ill treatment encountered by the human race.

Paper High School

The Matrix as allegory: Plato's cave and Marx's class struggle

An analysis of Plato's "The Allegory of the Cave" and how it relates to the film The Matrix. Also, an analysis of Karl Marx's Communist Manifesto and how themes of social struggle are prevalent in the film. Plato's allegory highlights how humans are brought into reality by being unplugged from the Matrix, while Marx's manifesto highlights the struggle between man and machine for power.

Research Paper Doctorate

United States attitudes toward European defense after the Cold War

United States Attitudes toward European Defense

Research Paper Doctorate

Plato's life, philosophies, and influence in ancient Greece

Plato was born in 428 BC and grew up in a time of major political change in Ancient Greece. The Peloponnesian War began a few years after he was born and continued until he was twenty.

Paper Doctorate

Kahneman's three common cognitive errors and critical thinking

This paper looks at the book written by Kahneman and he discusses his and his partner Tversky's findings regarding the biases that people exhibit when they are trying to think critically. Biases happen to every person and three are discussed in this report that are some of the most common and most often seen. Kahneman uses simple language and illustrations to make his points.

Plain speaking style in recent presidential debates

Public speaking can serve a variety of functions: to persuade, to inform, or to entertain. There are various ways to achieve these objectives, including using a heightened style of prose, as exemplified in speeches like…

Research Paper Doctorate

Shifting power dynamics between Japan and China in the Pacific Rim

¶ … cultural geography of the Pacific Rim countries. It has sources.

Research Paper Doctorate

Rap music as a result of violence, not its cause

Rap music is a phenomenon that is unparalleled in America, at no other time has a music form risen in such a way and gripped a nation as fully. While, rap music has its roots in the ghettos of the U.S.A.

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